


southbound on the six-oh-five

by fenying



Category: Mamamoo
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, Ambiguous/Open Ending, Day At The Beach, F/F
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-30
Updated: 2020-03-30
Packaged: 2021-03-01 05:13:55
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,208
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23399767
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/fenying/pseuds/fenying
Summary: Yongsun misses the exit, and keeps driving.
Relationships: Kim Yongsun | Solar/Moon Byulyi | Moonbyul
Comments: 16
Kudos: 96





	southbound on the six-oh-five

“You missed the exit,” says Byulyi, without even looking up. Her eyes are still glued to her phone. She sits curled in the seat, comfortably slouching next to where Yongsun sits ramrod straight.

“Did I,” says Yongsun. It’s not a question. Her hands grip the steering wheel so hard the tips of her fingers grow pale.

“Yeah.”

Yongsun flicks the turn signal on, rhythmic click bouncing off the walls of her skull as she shifts one lane left. Tick, tick. Tick, tick. She moves out one more lane. “Do you want me to go back?”

Byulyi looks up. Yongsun can feel her gaze on the side of her face even as she stares straight ahead at the cars in the distance, matchbox cars on a plastic track. If she squints, they start to look like ants marching in the sun. She fumbles with the console for her sunglasses, suppressing a startle when Byulyi presses them into her palm for her.

In the end, Byulyi gives her a simple, “Nah,” and goes back to scrolling idly down Instagram without liking any of the pictures.

Yongsun lets out a thin breath through her nose. Slowly, she relaxes her hands, prying one off the wheel to slide her sunglasses on. Her backpack sits in the back seat.

She drives on.

There is Yongsun, and then there is good girl Yongsun. Good girl Yongsun is always polite to her distant relatives and her parents’ friends. Good girl Yongsun is graduating high school with straight As. Good girl Yongsun goes to church every week. Good girl Yongsun is going to a top university for computer science.

Yongsun is tired of good girl Yongsun.

“Do you even know where you’re going?” asks Byulyi, putting her phone down. She rests it on the top of her bare thigh; Yongsun’s eyes are drawn by the motion, then flick away. Byulyi puts down the sun visor.

“Vaguely.” It was supposed to be a twenty-minute drive back to Yongsun’s house. They’ve been driving for an hour now. Her phone has started vibrating, noises amplified against the walls of the cupholder. “Hey, turn that off for me, will you?”

Byulyi picks Yongsun’s phone up, staring at the screen that will inevitably read “Mom” and _slide to pick up_ if Yongsun chooses to look over. Yongsun does not choose to look over. Byulyi presses down on the power button. _Slide to power down_.

Byulyi puts the phone back into the cupholder.

“Thanks.”

Yongsun looks over in the rearview mirror. Byulyi’s expression is pensive, a million questions sitting on the tip of her tongue. Yongsun knows that expression. But Byulyi knows Yongsun, and she knows Yongsun appreciates it when she merely leans back and says, “I’ll bet you five bucks that your mom will ground you when we get back.”

Yongsun snorts. “Not about to take bets that I’ll lose for sure.”

“Oh, come on, you never know. Your mom could be in an unnaturally good mood and then you could make five bucks. Take a chance.”

Byulyi smiles, teasing. She’s testing Yongsun—reverse psychology, or whatever. Yongsun is careful; Yongsun never makes bets she could lose. “Yeah, okay. I’m about to spend a lot more than that, anyways.”

“Do you know where you’re going now?”

They end up in San Diego. Del Mar, to be exact.

Yongsun had seen _exit to merge onto 605 towards San Diego_ and hadn’t thought twice. She’d let Byulyi set the navigation to a random boba shop she found off Yelp. “I want to go to the beach,” she declares, sipping on her passionfruit green tea.

“You and what swimsuit?” asks Byulyi, mouth wrapped around the straw of her boba milk tea. She snaps a quick selfie on her phone, catching Yongsun’s disgruntled face in the background. “In case you forgot, I was expecting to go home after school, not all the way down to San Diego.”

“Me and the one I’m about to buy.” Yongsun wraps her fingers around Byulyi’s wrist, violin calluses gliding across smooth skin. When she tugs, Byulyi follows easily.

“And you’re gonna wear it right away? Without washing it first?” Byulyi laughs, and the sound is deep and coarse and it makes Yongsun’s chest feel tight for just a split second. “Who are you and what have you done with Yongsun Kim?”

“I’m an alien and I’ve possessed her body,” says Yongsun, matter-of-factly. She makes a small whining noise when Byulyi stiffens her wrist just to make it harder for Yongsun to drag her along. “You’ll never see her again.”

Byulyi relents and lets herself be pulled into the neighboring shop, a seaside-themed boutique with swimsuits on display. Just in time for late May, Yongsun thinks. She lets go of Byulyi’s wrist, fingers burning up, and browses through the racks to distract herself.

Byulyi laughs. “That’s unfortunate.”

Byulyi ends up with a simple one-piece suit and a rash guard, and the total racks up to something like twenty dollars. Yongsun deliberates for longer, taking her time to pull swimsuits off their hangers and hold them up side-by-side. Normally, she’d pick out something similar to what Byulyi had gotten.

She stares at the monochrome one-piece suits along the back wall. There’s nothing wrong with them.

Byulyi breaks her out of her reverie, shoving a few hangers in her face. “Try these on,” she says, serious. “I think you might like one of them.”

Yongsun takes them from her, holding them out to look at them. “Bikinis?”

Byulyi shoves her towards the changing room. “C’mon, just try them on.”

The first one’s just alright, but Byulyi’s right—she really likes the second one. She balks at the price tag, though. “That much for just a two-piece?”

“If you don’t get it I’ll buy it for you,” Byulyi offers. Somehow she manages to make it sound like a threat.

“No, shut up,” Yongsun retorts, already pulling her wallet out. Byulyi is strapped for cash as it is, and Yongsun really likes this swimsuit. “I said I was going to splurge, wasn’t I?”

The beach is what Yongsun expects a San Diego beach on a Thursday to look like—lively, but empty enough that they can spread out a blanket without being too close to anyone. Yongsun has an old one in the trunk for the both of them to lay down on, but only Byulyi was lucky enough to bring flip flops.

Yongsun sits inside the trunk of her car to slip off her sneakers, peeling off her socks and stuffing them in the shoes. This, she’s careful with—it’ll be more hassle than it’s worth if she gets sand in them and has to put them back on to drive home. She hands Byulyi the blanket and a tote bag with sunscreen and other essentials.

“What are you doing?” asks Byulyi, watching Yongsun eye the pavement. Even this late in the afternoon, it still looks like she could fry an egg on the blacktop.

“Gonna make a run for it.”

“Yongsun, you know you can just—”

“Too late!” crows Yongsun, jumping out of the trunk and hissing as her feet hit hot asphalt. She hits the button on her car to close the trunk. “Ow, ow, go, go, go!”

Yongsun lets out a scream as she sprints across the parking lot and onto the beach. The sand is still scalding—Yongsun keeps running, all the way to where the tide meets the sand. Serene saltwater soothes her aching soles.

Byulyi trails behind, picking out a spot on the beach and dumping their stuff on the ground. “Come back,” she yells, voice echoing in the wind. “At least put your car keys away. If you lose it in the water, how are we supposed to get home?”

Yongsun looks at the key fob still gripped tightly in her hand. Oh, right. “Coming!”

Byulyi takes her shirt off, already wearing the swimsuit underneath, and shimmies into the rash guard. She’s still wearing her shorts. Yongsun peels off both her shirt and shorts and stuffs them in the tote bag. The wind bites against her bare midriff, and Yongsun wraps both arms around her stomach. She feels oddly exposed.

Byulyi isn’t looking at her, staring at the horizon. There’s a distant look in her eye, like she’s not really sure where she is or what she’s doing.

Yongsun hooks a finger into one of the belt loops of her denim shorts. “You should take these off, too.”

Byulyi blinks, and the look is gone. She shakes her shirt out, folding it properly. “Why?”

“How are you gonna go swimming with these on?” asks Yongsun.

“Who said I was going swimming?”

“We’re at the beach!” Yongsun throws up her arms, faking exasperation. She’s doing a very bad job of it—a sudden exhilaration floods her veins, makes her fingers tingle with unbridled energy. She turns to Byulyi, who’s crossed her arms, unmoved. “You get two choices. Choice one is take the shorts off and come into the water with me willingly.”

“And choice two is that you leave me here to lie down in peace?” tries Byulyi.

“Nope!” cackles Yongsun. Byulyi’s face remains impassive, but there’s a sudden flash of unease in her eyes—she’s about to run.

Yongsun doesn’t even let her get that far. She scoops Byulyi up in her arms, princess-style, and runs toward the ocean.

“Put me down!” yelps Byulyi, smacking Yongsun’s bare shoulder. It startles a yelp out of her, lungs working overtime.

“No!” Yongsun says back, even as her arms are about to collapse. Why did she think this was a good idea? “Why are you so heavy?”

“I’m not heavy, you’re just weak!” says Byulyi, wriggling in Yongsun’s arms. Yongsun nearly trips. “Put me down!”

But Yongsun is nothing but stubborn, and she makes it all the way until her knees are covered in seawater before her arms finally give. Byulyi flails as Yongsun drops her into the water, letting out an unholy screech when she falls. Water splashes on Yongsun too, but she’s fine. She’s just in her swimsuit. Byulyi, on the other hand—

“Yongsun Kim!” yells Byulyi. Yongsun’s already running off, giggling. “Yongsun Kim, come back here!”

“Catch me if you can!” Yongsun yells back. Byulyi runs track, so it’s a lost cause, but it’s fun to see her chase Yongsun looking like a drenched cat.

Once Byulyi catches up to her, she shoves Yongsun into the water, laughing triumphantly as Yongsun stumbles and ends up completely submerged beneath the waves. Yongsun pushes her back. There are kids nearby building a sandcastle, watching them curiously. Yongsun should be embarrassed.

Yongsun splashes Byulyi, and now they’re in an all out war. The salt spray stings Yongsun’s eyes, but the laugh that bubbles out of her is free. Unrestrained.

The setting sun paints the rippling waves in pinks and oranges. It’s the way the light hits Byulyi’s cheeks, dusting them a faint gold—the way Yongsun breathes in the fresh, salty scent of the ocean and revels in the feeling of being seventeen. She is young. She wants to be reckless.

Byulyi steps forward to splash her, and Yongsun doesn’t step back. They’re so close. Yongsun wants to be reckless.

And Byulyi is so pretty.

There is Yongsun, and then there is good girl Yongsun. Good girl Yongsun is always polite to her distant relatives and her parents’ friends and smiles through all their rude and invasive questions. Good girl Yongsun spent the last four years cooped up in her room studying every single day and is graduating high school with straight As. Good girl Yongsun goes to church every week and sits through sermons on why being gay is bad. Good girl Yongsun is going to a top university for computer science and hides the fact that she hates both the university and computer science.

Yongsun’s hand comes up, instinctively, to cup Byulyi’s cheek. Byulyi leans into her hand—leans forward. There is a striking moment of clarity where Yongsun stares into the depths of Byulyi’s eyes, looking for—for what?

Yongsun looks for something to want, just for herself, and she finds it.

_Can I be selfish?_

Byulyi has always understood her better than anyone else, anyways. There are some things that Yongsun doesn’t need to ask out loud for her to answer.

Good girl Yongsun doesn't drive two hours to San Diego without telling her mom.

Yongsun leans in.

Good girl Yongsun doesn't buy expensive, revealing swimsuits.

Byulyi closes her eyes, eyelashes fluttering against sunkissed skin. Yongsun’s breath catches in her throat.

Good girl Yongsun doesn't kiss the girl she calls her best friend.

Byulyi tastes like brown sugar. Yongsun pulls away, and the flavor lingers.

And Yongsun doesn't want to be good girl Yongsun anymore, but she's so scared she doesn't know what else to be.

Byulyi covers Yongsun’s hand with her own where it’s still resting on her cheek. Her lips are cherry red, raw from what felt like hours of kissing, and Yongsun can hardly bear to tear her eyes away. She's dizzy with pleasant warmth. But Byulyi sighs, and Yongsun’s eyes flick up to meet hers.

Byulyi’s voice is soft. “Oh, Yongsun. You can’t keep running away from your problems, you know?”

**Author's Note:**

> this is just unedited vent fic lmao sorry if u expected anything actually good


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